Speaking at the launch in Abuja, the minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said 5,635 Federal Civil Service staff would benefit at the first instance.

She said the scheme was a collaboration steered by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board (FGSHLB), the Federal Integrated Staff Housing Programme (FISH), and the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company Plc (NMRC).

She noted that “the N13 billion mortgage refinance investment commitment by the NMRC, following on the heels of its N8 billion initial bond issuance, the proceeds of which have been fully utilised in refinancing, should signal to investors at home and abroad that there were significant opportunities in the Nigerian Housing sector.” The minister said the scheme is critical because the “civil servants play an important role in nurturing and developing our nation so it is only fair that those who serve the country can be afforded the opportunity of owning their own home by retirement.

Managing Director of SunTrust Bank, Muhammed Jibrin congratulated the Federal Government for the mortgage re-financing initiative and also assured the Federal Civil Servants that they have a solid partner to bank on at any point in time in his bank.

He said: “We are very happy this is happening today.

This is to show how sensitive and worker-friendly the present administration is. The workers are the ultimate winners in this scheme as most of them, through this scheme will transit from being tenants to landlords at a rate that will be very conducive for them.